Open source doesn’t grow through code alone — it also grows through communities. And communities are built when people meet, share ideas, and sometimes argue over coffee in conference hallways.

In this episode of Open Matters, Richard Brock speaks with Eirini Athanasopoulou from Nextcloud about the human side of open source: events, community, storytelling, and what it takes to bring distributed people together in real life.

Eirini shares her journey from literature and TEDx in Greece to organising international events at Nextcloud, including Enterprise Days, the Nextcloud Summit, and the Community Conference. We talk about why in-person events still matter, how open-source events differ from generic tech conferences, and why event management is “project management with a little bit of fun and magic.”

And yes — there is also a pizza disaster story.

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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Collabora Productivity or its affiliates. The content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered official guidance or fact-checked technical documentation.

00:00 Intro
03:48 From Greece to Berlin
04:39 From volunteering to work
06:18 What are the different Nextcloud events?
09:02 What about hybrid/online events?
10:25 What are the numbers?
13:40 Why should we come?
15:27 Any amusing stories?
16:58 What keeps you awake before an event?
19:17 What does Richard enjoy about events?
21:28 How do you measure success?